This case has been cited 1 times or more.
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2006-10-31 |
CHICO-NAZARIO, J. |
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| This case has no precedent in this jurisdiction for it is the first time that such has risen, but there are several precedents that may be invoked in American jurisprudence. As Mr. Justice Cardozo has said: "The applicable principle is fundamental and unquestioned. "He who prevents a thing from being done may not avail himself of the nonperformance which he himself occasioned, for the law says to him in effect "this is your own act, and therefore you are not damnified."' (R.H. Stearns Co. v. U.S., 78 L. ed., 647). (Emphasis supplied.)[30] This rationale is not applicable to the present case where the respondent did nothing to prevent the BIR from collecting the tax. It did not present to the BIR any new evidence for its re-evaluation. At the earliest opportunity, respondent insisted that the assessment was invalid and made clear to the BIR its refusal to produce documents that the BIR requested. On the other hand, the BIR also communicated to the respondent its unwavering stance that its assessment is correct. Given that both parties were at a deadlock, the next logical step would have been for the BIR to issue a Decision denying the respondent's protest and to initiate proceedings for the collection of the assessed tax and, thus, allow the respondent, should it so choose, to contest the assessment before the CTA. Postponing the collection for eight long years could not possibly make the taxpayer feel that the demand was not unreasonable or that no harassment or injustice is meant by the Government. There was no legal, or even a moral, obligation preventing the CIR from collecting the assessed tax. In a similar case, Cordero v. Conda,[31] the Court did not suspend the running of the prescription period where the acts of the taxpayer did not prevent the government from collecting the tax. The government also urges that partial payment is "acknowledgement of the tax obligation", hence a "waiver on the defense of prescription." But partial payment would not prevent the government from suing the taxpayer. Because, by such act of payment, the government is not thereby "persuaded to postpone collection to make him feel that the demand was not unreasonable or that no harassment or injustice is meant." Which, as stated in Collector v. Suyoc Consolidated Mining Co., et al., L-11527, November 25, 1958, is the underlying reason behind the rule that prescriptive period is arrested by the taxpayer's request for reexamination or reinvestigation - even if "he has not previously waived it [prescription] in writing." The Court reminds us, in the case of Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Algue, Inc., [32] of the need to balance the conflicting interests of the government and the taxpayers. Taxes are the lifeblood of the government and so should be collected without unnecessary hindrance. On the other hand, such collection should be made in accordance with law as any arbitrariness will negate the very reason for government itself. It is therefore necessary to reconcile the apparently conflicting interest of the authorities and the taxpayers so that the real purpose of taxation, which is the promotion of common good, may be achieved. Thus, the three-year statute of limitations on the collection of an assessed tax provided under Section 269(c) of the Tax Code of 1977, a law enacted to protect the interests of the taxpayer, must be given effect. In providing for exceptions to such rule in Section 271, the law strictly limits the suspension of the running of the prescription period to, among other instances, protests wherein the taxpayer requests for a reinvestigation. In this case, where the taxpayer merely filed two protest letters requesting for a reconsideration, and where the BIR could not have conducted a reinvestigation because no new or additional evidence was submitted, the running of statute of limitations cannot be interrupted. The tax which is the subject of the Decision issued by the CIR on 8 October 2002 affirming the Formal Assessment issued on 14 April 1994 can no longer be the subject of any proceeding for its collection. Consequently, the right of the government to collect the alleged deficiency tax is barred by prescription. | |||||